Feds To Rule On Cancer Aid For WTC Dust Exposure

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal health official is expected to announce soon whether people with cancer will be covered by an aid program for anyone sickened by World Trade Center dust.

An advisory committee recommended in March that the government open up the $4.3 billion program to people who developed cancers after being exposed to the toxic soot that fell on Manhattan when the towers collapsed.

The director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health is scheduled to make a determination by Saturday. His decision might not be announced until Monday.

Adding cancer to the program would be cheered by many former ground zero workers.

But it could also prove costly and lead to smaller payments for people with other illnesses more closely linked to fallout from the 9/11 attacks.